Police maintain a presence outside of the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic headquarters in Brooklyn on Wednesday.

Craig Warga for The Wall Street Journal

The yeshiva student who was stabbed in the neck and head in an early-morning attack Tuesday at the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic headquarters in Brooklyn is improving, his father said, as security at the synagogue has ramped up.

Nechemya Weberman, 54 years old, was found guilty in December on 59 counts of sexual abuse and child endangerment, the most serious that he sexually abused the young woman for three years beginning when she was 12.

The victim, now 18, spoke for five minutes at times crying as she read from a prepared statement.

She described herself as “a sad girl who wanted to live a normal life but instead was being victimized by a 50-year-old man who forced her to perform sickening acts again and again.”

“I saw a girl who had no reason to live,” she said. “I would cry until my tears ran dry.”

She hoped that her coming forward “sets a precedent” and would give strength to other victims in the community. Read More »

A man accused of throwing bleach at a Brooklyn rabbi who advocates for sexual-abuse victims in the Satmar Hasidic community was arrested Wednesday afternoon.

Melech Schnitzler, 36 years old, turned himself in to police at the 90th Precinct stationhouse in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a day after Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg was doused with a cup of Clorox, according to NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

Schnitzler, who was accompanied by a lawyer, has been charged with assault, menacing, criminal mischief and criminal possession of a weapon. He was awaiting arraignment on Wednesday afternoon.

Rosenberg, 62, runs a website and hotline that encourages victims of sex abuse in the Hasidic community to come forward and report the crimes to the police and has been ostracized by the Jewish community as a result. Read More »

A prominent ultra-Orthodox Jewish counselor was found guilty Monday of sexually abusing a teenage girl over a three-year span — a rare win for prosecutors in an insular Brooklyn community they have long accused of keeping members quiet.

In a packed courtroom, the jury of four men and eight women found Nechemya Weberman, 54 years old, guilty on 59 counts of sexual abuse and child endangerment — the most serious that he sexually assaulted the young woman over a sustained period of time from when she was 12 to 15 years old.

Weberman faces up to the 25 years in prison on the most serious charges. His lawyers have said they plan to appeal the decision.

The trial put the insular Satmar Hasidic community, an ultra-Orthodox sect of Judaism, under the spotlight, drawing overflow crowds that forced some to wait impatiently outside in hopes of getting a courtroom seat.

The four were being questioned by investigators Thursday and were expected to be charged with criminal contempt, a law-enforcement official said.

Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice John Ingram halted the trial of Nechemya Weberman, 54 years old, after learning that courtroom photos were shot and distributed over the Internet. The judge then cleared the courtroom and made the roughly 50 spectators check their phones with court officers. The trial was halted for about 30 minutes and resumed in the afternoon. Read More »

In this May 16, 2012 image taken from video and provided by WCBS-TV, Nechemya Weberman attends a fundraiser on his behalf in Brooklyn.

After months of anticipation, a 17-year-old girl took the stand in the sexual abuse trial of a respected counselor from an ultra-orthodox Jewish community that authorities say has historically avoided such prosecutions by keeping members quiet.

In a packed courtroom filled mostly with her supporters, the teen took the stand against Nechemya Weberman, an unlicensed religious counselor in the Satmar community, an ultra-orthodox sect of Judaism.

Weberman is accused of sexually abusing the girl dozens of times in his home and office over a three-year span beginning she was 12 years old. The girl, who turns 18 next week, is not being identified because she is the victim of a sexual-abuse crime. Read More »

A Hasidic Jewish man walked past bikers protesting the removal of a bicycle lane on Bedford Avenue in in 2009.

As bike infrastructure has expanded, city officials have faced a persistent push back from an insular religious community in Brooklyn’s South Williamsburg neighborhood.

Local leaders, many of whom identify with the Satmar Hasidic Jewish movement, successfully fought to have a Bedford Avenue bike lane removed in 2009. Now, as the city prepares to roll out its new bike-share program next month, the map of locations bypasses South Williamsburg completely – an exclusion planners see as sensitive deference to the community.

But what explains the ongoing opposition to bikes in this very religious corner of Brooklyn? Read More »

Estee Goldschmidt had already purchased her ticket to an Orthodox Jewish gathering later this month where religious leaders are planning to discuss the perils of the Internet. But the 21-year-old Yeshiva University student won’t be allowed to attend.

Organizers moved to limit admission to men, announcing that women could view live video of the proceedings at six locations in the metropolitan area. As a result, Goldschmidt has given her ticket to a male friend.

“I think it’s ironic that for this event, which they say is the most important event in a really long time and going to bring the Jewish nation together, they’re not inviting half the population,” Goldschmidt said. “But it’s not too surprising either.” Read More »

Rick Santorum’s cultural conservatism is winning him support with a group of voters far from the Christian heartland: Orthodox Jews in New York.

An organization calling itself Jews Pick Rick on Monday sent out a press release touting its support for Santorum. “Rick rightly considers the erosion in traditional American values as the cause for the spiraling economy and diminished respect in which the United States is held around the world,” said the release. Read More »